Local News

Five years after the Islamic State invaded northern Iraq and began systematically persecuting the country’s Christians, the Knights of Columbus continue their work supporting Iraqi parishes that are rebuilding after the genocide, part of the work of charity, unity and fraternity long practiced by the fraternal service organization, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said in his annual report Aug. 6 at the 137th Supreme Convention of the Order of the Knights of Columbus.

When Marc Peters of St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes became the state deputy of the Knights of Columbus two years ago, he had no idea part of his job would entail standing on the pitcher’s mound at Target Field in Minneapolis poised to make the first pitch in an August game between the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals.

When Michael Wenger of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul served lunches to hungry elementary school students in Laos, he knew exactly why he had accepted an invitation to join his father, Brian, Archbishop Bernard Hebda and three other local Catholics on a trip to Laos and Cambodia sponsored by Catholic Relief Services.

With the archdiocese clear of bankruptcy stemming from the clergy sexual abuse crisis and preparations underway for a 2021 synod focusing on pastoral needs, leaders in the archdiocese believe the stage is set for revitalizing lay ministry.

Opportunities for healing in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis — for victims/survivors, their families and parishioners — are growing in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. To help coordinate, publicize and organize those efforts, and to search for new avenues of healing, the archdiocese has created a new position — Outreach Coordinator for Restorative Justice and Abuse Prevention.Paula Kaempffer began work June 10.

Amid the perogies, Chopin music and Polish egg decorating, the Twin Cities Polish Festival will include — for the first time — an outdoor Mass during its Aug. 9-11 celebration in northeast Minneapolis.

Like any good entrepreneur, Roger Vasko has a knack for getting businesses to thrive. At age 28, he bought his father’s business — Vasko Rubbish Removal — with his younger brother and proceeded to expand its client base sevenfold over the next 18 years, from 150 businesses to 1,100.

A guidebook for business leaders that was developed largely by local Catholics and released as an official Vatican document in 2012 made a big splash around the world, but it remains largely unknown in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.